What Do You Think The Role Of Philosophy Should Be Moving Forward In Culture

[Joseph Maynor]

Curious

[Prabhaker]

3 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

What Do You Think The Role Of Philosophy Should Be Moving Forward In Culture

Philosophy leads you nowhere, Moses, Jesus, Buddha and every enlightened master had a realization, they were not philosophizing. 

The most important thing about India is that it has no philosophy in the same way that other countries have philosophies.

The word 'philosophy' means love of knowledge. In India we have never praised love of knowledge; we have praised love of experience. Knowledge can be borrowed, experience cannot be borrowed. That is why we have called our way darshan, not philosophy. 

To call darshan Indian philosophy is basically wrong. Philosophy is a mind thing - you think about it. Darshan is a realization, a thing of your innermost being; you realize it. Philosophy needs logic; darshan needs silence - no thoughts, everything in absolute nothingness. Only then you will come to know yourself.

Philosophy means to think, and darshan means to see. Both are basically different; not only different, but diametrically opposite. Because when you are thinking you cannot see. You are so filled with thoughts that perception is blurred, perception is clouded. When thinking ceases, you become capable of seeing. Then your eyes are opened, they become unclouded. Perception happens only when thinking ceases.

So Buddha is not a philosopher; neither is Jesus. They have seen the truth; they have not thought about it.

[Shawn12]

From my personal experience, I have read philosophy and have been interested in existential and phenomenological currents for a good time. However, for all the reading rationalizing and thinking i have never 'felt' (for lack of a better description) any of it's implications through rationalizing, rather built distinctions and layer upon layers of framework obscuring awareness. Philosophy could inspire but just as well dilute and confuse this is true of any ideology.

Perhaps then a role for philosophy could be to inspire and generate societal values and norms generative to reflection, curiosity and knowledge while at the same time not becoming embroiled in distraction and conceptualization for its own sake, a delicate balance.

[Visitor]

@Joseph Maynor Towards the truth (not facts) about human thoughts and actions.

[Lorcan]

Philosophy I think, will play an important role in helping to create a society thats maximises the joy/contentment one experiances in ones life as much as possible, while minimising the amount of suffering one experiances in ones life as much as possible whilst being as functional as possible. 

A Paradise that me and you can imagine up right now is one thing. A paradise that actually functions without backfiring is another more complex and difficult matter.

Perhaps philosophy will one day become obselete because society will have reached such a high point of conscioussness that society it self is "self-actualized"

[Principium Nexus]

Shared wonder and awe in a symbolic manner.